So it's just a matter of you skilled pilots flying on instinct rather than having to consciously think about every input you make. My boyfriend is into R/C cars and he showed me how to drive them. Compared to helis, they are incredibly easy to maneuver. Adding that 3rd dimension makes everything so much more confusing! I have much to learn and will keep practicing whenever I have free time (if I can't beat him in cars, then I'll best him in flying!). Having the new lithium battery really helps since I can keep flying for longer periods, but they are pretty expensive...

I see that some of you have added tail fins to your helis. What does that accomplish? Does it make the heli more stable? It certainly looks prettier with a splash of color!

Yeah, helis require constant input to keep them stable. Its like balancing a bowling ball on a pencil when you are first learning. As you get better, its more like balancing a pingpong ball on a pencil. You will always have to "fly" the heli, but it becomes easier the more you do it.

As far as tail fins go. There are a few of reasons for them.

1. In fast forward flight the fins act like a weathervane, and keep the tail straight.
2. It makes the tail easier to see.
3. It looks cool.

Anyone know how to make a Hitec HS55 work in a Blade? The contols are reversed and changing them on the TX doesn't effect the problem.
Phillip

does that guy have a cool girlfriend, or What? Thats not something you see very often. I'm new the whole lipo battery thing.. all Ive encounered is massive amounts of warnings that they can burst into flames and such.. Do they have a memory? do I need to cycle them? if I put them in the freezer before charging.. would it help like it does nicads? Open volly.. I ditched it pretty hard into the skids last night(stunting too close to the ground, they must have taken most of the shock, the rest of the bird is fine, its grounded till the JB weld dries. Its so puny and my eyesight is not as good as it used to be.. I really like the tail fin Idea.. it will help bunches with reference .. also any reccomendations for a good AC lipo charger? what a pain to use my car battery to charge them.

Human,

What most of us do is get a power supply and run the charger off of that. This way you can use it in the car or the house.

I know its not meant to me but I want to know what you meant cauz I ave this problem that I dont have the supply for te li-poly battery:

sky pilot, what he means I need to go out and get a 120 to 12 volt converter.. I think I have a computer power supply laying around somewhere, just gotta find out which pins to short to turn it on.. thanks bdavision

I just dremeled off the detents or " ridges" off the throttle mechanism and replced the spring tab inside the radio.. nice.... real nice.. handy thread..

As far as lipos go...their charging requirements are very strict, and you need to take special care in handling them. If you treat them right, you shouldn't have to worry about them bursting into flames. Basically, you'll need a LiPo-capable charger (most LiPo manufacturers say to use ONLY a charger designed solely for LiPo and nothing else, this is probably to help prevent fire due to user error and charging a battery on NiCd or NiMh). Always charge at NO HIGHER than 1C (so a 2,200mah LiPo should NEVER be charged at more than 2.2 amps). As far as the fridge goes, I wouldn't recommend it. There's too much of a possibility of condensation forming, and with LiPo's you DON'T want to get water or any liquids on the cells. NiCd's and NiMh batteries can take some amount of condensation, but don't risk it with LiPo's. If you ever get in a nasy crash and you have a LiPo battery, IMMEDIATELY take it out and place it on a fire-proof surface, like concrete and observe it for 15 minutes. If it starts to swell, even a little, it can possibly burst into flames. Bear in mind that it is possible for the battery to start swelling even 12 minutes after the crash. Don't take any chances with LiPo's. EVER. If you think that it will be too much work to take care of Lithium Polymer batteries, then don't take the risk and don't buy them. As great as LiPo's are, they need extra special careful attention. If you're still interested in getting them, go to any online retailer of LiPo batteries and they should have a LiPo FAQ that lists these and other rules that apply to caring for LiPo batteries.

ANYWAYS, I just finished rebuilding my entire Blade, took about 2 1/2 hours to move all the components to a new frame, re-assemble the rotor head, wire everything, gear it up and test it. Everything seems fine, tracking is dead on, and I'll be ready to fly tomororw morning.

Mina, I envy your boyfriend. What a lucky guy to have a girlfriend like you! Anyways, about the tail fins, bdavision is right. I'm considering getting a horizontal and vertical fin for mine as well, but that's probably as far as I'm gonna go with tinkering with my heli's tail.

I don't know if Jason (my BF) is lucky. I'm just weird (not many girls care about R/C hobbies) Perhaps he was born under an unlucky star... Some of my good friends tease me about playing with toys, but it's all in fun. I guess I picked up R/C just so I could have one more thing in common with Jason. It used to be me just standing around watching him zip his little cars around on the street or parking lot or at a race and not being involved at all - kinda boring. I've always had some interest in mechanical things and Jason expressed some desire to try R/C flight, so I decided to get the jump on him and get myself a R/C heli. As far as it is now, I really like this little toy! It also really helps to have someone who has all the R/C specific tools and gear. I never used the slow wall charger that came with the heli. Jason's fast-charger can handle all kinds of batteries and charges them up in less than an hour.


Yeah, I think I will add on some tail fins later. I plan to use Jason's airbrush and paint on some pretty designs to make my heli look cool. How do you attach the fins? Super glue?

Human Enigma, you smoothed out the clicking of the throttle stick? Are you supposed to have a smooth moving throttle stick so you can constantly make blade speed changes to keep your heli at a certain height? Like I said before, my heli will dip and rise as I make correctional inputs, so I'm also supposed to make throttle inputs to keep it level? So far, I'm just keeping the throttle stick at a certain level and just moving it left and right to keep the tail steady.

I feel stupid for asking this, but what are the correct terms for heli anatomy and movements?

Hmm..I can easily answer one of your questions at least. The heli tends to dip and rise when you make corrections because the rotor speed and pitch are staying constant, but what you're doing is changing the direction of the airflow, so this change will make it have less lift and so it dips, when you center the stick again all the thrust is directed downwards again so it rises back up. If you want to keep the heli steady while you make correctional inputs, you'll have to increase throttle and/or pitch to keep generating the same amount of lift. That's the hard thing about helis, you make one change and you gotta adjust everything else to compensate for that. Don't let it overwhelm you though, try using the right stick to keep its pitch steady, and moving the left stick left and right (rudder) to keep the tail pointed at you so it feels like you're still sitting in the cockpit, that way you won't get confused when you're viewing it from a different angle. The best way to learn how to fly is to take it one step at a time: learn how to keep it facing straight, then learn how to keep its attitude (the direction the nose is pointing) and its roll level, and finally learn how to keep it flying at the same altitude. If you take it in steps like that, you'll get hovering down, and then you need to try hovering while viewing the heli from different angles. So to sum up that question (and to add more advice), just take it in steps and stay calm. I found that when I started losing it and kept struggling to get control, things just got worse. If you start to lose it, land it and try again. Remind yourself that "I can do this. Baby steps, stay calm." We all had to learn how to crawl before we could stand, and we had to learn how to walk before we can run.

Ok, to answer the question on heli anatomy, here's what I know....

The swashplate is the center of control for the heli, this is the piece that the servos are moving up and down and side to side. This controls the pitch of the helicopter. The rotor head is the top piece that connects to the swashplate, this also holds the blade grips which hold the rotor blades. The rotor head basically translates the movements of the swashplate into the movements of the rotor blade pitch. The blade pitch is the measurement (usually in degrees) of how far up or down the front of the blade is pointing in relation to the rest of the helicopter, so neutral pitch means the front of the rotor blade is parallel to the tail boom of the heli, +10° pitch means that the front of the blades are pointing an angle of 10° higher than the axis that is parallel to the tail boom, and -10° is 10 degrees lower, and so on. The more blade pitch there is, the more air the rotor blades are pushing down (or in the case of negative pitch, up), but this also means that there is more air resistance against the blades (drag). Therefore, the motor must work harder to compensate for this and move more air while fighting against the increasing drag.

What happens when the motor can't counteract the force of drag? You get a blade tip stall, and the heli will start "jumping" up in down in flight. If you don't react to this, the tip stall will get worse until it travels across the entire lengith of the blade, then the heli will spin around violently to the left and will utlimately crash. The best way to avoid or to counteract such a stall is to give more power to the motor and/or to give less pitch to the blades. The former can be done by moving the throttle trim up, this the lever parallel to the throttle axis on the right of the left stick. The latter can be done by both moving the throttle stick down while increasing throttle trim. If you ever get into a situation like this and you start panicking, when the heli starts bobbing up and down violently, land the heli immediately to prevent any damage. I'm at the point now where I'm getting used to counteracting tip stalls, but if I still feel unsure, I'll just cut the throttle and try flying again. This is where training gear will REALLY save your heli.

Anyways, back to blade pitch and such. You'll notice that if the swashplate moves forward, when one of the rotor blades moves towards the front, it starts to gain negative pitch. When it moves towards the back, it gans positive pitch. What this is doing is pushing less air down in the front (or moving it upwards if the swashplate is really pointing down hard) and moving more air in the back, rotating the whole heli foward and bringing the nose downwards. Try it on your Blade. Push the swashplate down (battery unplugged though), try keeping the rotor head flat and slowly turn the rotor blades. You'll notice this happen. The opposite will occur when the swashplate points down towards the rear, and a similar effect will happen if the swashplate moves left (more negative pitch on the left, more positive pitch on the right) and to the right (vice versa). So, any position you move the swashplate in, be it forwards, backwards, left, right, or anywhere in between, the heli will rotate towards the spot where the swashplate is pointing down. Pretty cool, huh?

The last thing worth mentioning is the flybar. These are the two thick plastic paddles on the top of the rotor head, connecting with a steel rod. They help balance the heli, and I think they also play a part in controlling the pitch of the heli as well, but for that you'd have to ask someone more knowledgable.

So anyways, hope that helps shed some light on helicopters. They're obviously far more complex than a basic airplane, but both aircraft and helicopters have things in common. However, you'll notice (and if you show it to Jason) that construction-wise, an R/C heli is actually more similar to an R/C car than it is to a plane.

Quite an interesting thing these are. I find that the more I work with them and the more I demonstrate to them at customers in the hobby shop I work at, the more interesting these things become.

DarkWombat

Thank you for that very very helpful post, DarkWombat! Unfortunately, the manual that came with the Blade did not explain things very clearly, so I was left to my own devices to figure out what was what. I think I've experienced stalling and my ignorance of the matter led to a number of crashes. I have the training gear and it is worth its weight in gold.

Is it fairly normal to have the rotor head wobble slightly? The top screw is just every so slightly out of perfect center and the heli has some slight vibration. It probably got knocked out of alignment over the course of many crashes. The heli is probably due for an overhaul. I suppose I should take everything apart and rebuild and reset all the adjustments. Would be nice if the manual came with a step-by-step guide on how to build the heli...

I've never examined a plane before, but cars are fairly simple. I guess I can see how a heli and a car is similar. Cars have more complicated means to get the motor's power to the road through a series of gears, driveshafts, and more gears. In the end, it all boils down to 3 commands: go, stop, and "go here".


Oh yes, you heli guys ever heard of a "brushless motor"? I know the car-guys use them and they are insanely fast. Jason has this little off-road truck with one of these motors and it can easily out run the cars on the residential roads. Put one in a heli and I'll bet you can do some crazy stunts.

Brushless motors are used on all the expensive electrics like the T-rex and Logo. I would buy a new main shaft/gear for 5 bucks, that should take care of your vibration problem.

Yep, brushless motors are getting more and more popular now that LiPo batteries have arrived to provide lightweight power, and that the outrunner motors are here. Just a year or so ago they were really expensive, now you can easily get a 380-sized brushless motor for a little more than the price of a modified brushed motor. The problem comes to the speed control. Brushless motors have three wires, not two, because they require a special speed controller that electronically controls what direction of current goes to which part of the motor. Brushed motors do that mechanically, and that's why they're not as powerful or efficient, because of the increased friction between the motor brushes and the armature. I could go more into detail but it's easier to explain with a picture. I believe How Stuff Works had an article about them, I read about them somewhere on the internet and once you get down to it, they're quite simple actually.

Also, about the main shaft, if it's getting wobbly I would suggest looking for another main shaft. It's not necessary to replace it just yet but I would consider doing it soon.

Oh and answering why Eflite didn't include much of an explanation about the heli parts: the Blade CP was actually never intended for a heli beginner, Eflite geared it towards someone who already had heli experience. However, the low price and easy obtainability of the heli has made it really popular (for better or for worse) with people who've never flown an r/c heli.

[quote]ORIGINAL: Human_Enigma

if I put them in the freezer before charging.. would it help like it does nicads? (quote)



NO!!! DO NOT PUT THEM IN THE FREEZER!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lipo's have a specific temperature range that they like to be used/stored/charged. I don't have the specs with me at the moment but I'll post them tomorrow---The specs are straight out of my Schulze charger manual.

Kevin

Balance.. is essential to a helicopter flying or not. Originally heli's were never really intended to fly, though their forefathers figured out a way to make the machines beat the air into submission. Perfect scenerio, the heli should not wobble any during flight. Slight vibrations when accelerated become harmonic vibrations and transfer throughout the entire machine. This in turn can effect things like gyro inputs, pitch variations, rattle setscrews and nuts loose, create cracks in plastic, damage bearings and decrease the helicopters overall performance. Balancing the craft perfectly can be daunting at times and takes the utmost in patience and practice. Investing in a high point balancer and a rotor pitch gauge would be your first line of attack. Your first concern would be to make sure that the main shaft( the biggest shaft that passes through the body that the rotor head assembly sits on) is true. You can check this by taking it all apart down to just the shaft and big gear at the bottom and rolling it on the flattest surface you can find with the big gear hanging off the edge as close as possible to the edge of the surface without touching it, I use a piece of granate floor tile I got from home depot for 4 bucks that a plant pot sits on most of the time, if its bent you should notice it by how it rolls, replace if neccessary. Next, Lay the shaft and gear across the high point balancer and watch to see if the gear rolls to the same point everytime, Mark the low point and buzz off a tiny portion of the inner portion of the gear behind the teeth.. when I say tiny.. I mean TINY microscopic tiny..you can always take off more.. its alot tougher to put it back on! I use my dremel with a very fine sandpaper drum for this. Make sure you dont grind off any integral portions of the gear or the teeth itself. and do this until it stops rolling to a specific point. Its also important that there's no breeze of any kind, weather it be from kids running by or pets beggin for snacks or what have you, I do this in the kitchen when everyone is away. Grab the rotor head assembly. The big black paddles are called Hiller paddles, their sole purpose is to help with balance and counteract most of the forces created by the main blades constant flapping.. or pitch variations each revolution the head makes. And the flybar is called a Hiller flybar. Hiller is the name of the guy who designed the darn thing.. and they use it on full size Hiller heli's too, the inner collars closest to the shaft on it are keepers but the ones closest to the paddles are flybar weights these should be kept as far out as possible but can be slid one way or another in order to balance the rotor head when its off of the heli and on the balancing wheels, typically first with the main blades off then compare with them on, also with the swashplate off, its static meaning it does not spin so it should not be considered in the balance.

I Like the throttle stick to be smooth, that’s why I buzzed off the notches.. its just a preference thing, its doesn’t Have to be that way. Same goes for how you hold the sticks, some guys hold them between their fingertips.. Ive been told I do it goofy with my thumbs at the top, those are things that are strictly of your own choosing. Its your baby..

I posted this in the beginner area, and thought I might have better luck on this thread. Thanks!

I just bought, and crashed a Blade CP. All in the same day. Crashed it three times to be exact. I have to say this is one tough little chopper. Considering the fact that I have never touched anything R/C that flies, I'm doing all right. If anyone knows an internet sight that gives a great how-to for beginning chopper pilots that would be super.

Anyway, after the crash, I straightened everything out, unplugged/replugged the battery, checked the servo throws, and made sure everything was articulationg fine. It was. I packed it all up and went to take care of some errands. After the errands, I plugged the battery in, and tested the throws again. Nothing happened. The 4 in 1 flashes red and green alternating? Anyone know what that means? The batteries are good all around. The crystals are plugged in, and I even tried a different crystal set to see if they were bad. Nothing worked and I still have alternating red and green lights. Any suggestions?

I would like to setup my ESky HB2 like "DarkWombat", except no brushless motors.

I have a TREC ESC, Pixie-20P, and a Align RCE-500 HH Gyro.

Will I be able to use the above Gyro and ESC's with the stock ESky 4-in-1 unit? (basically I would be only using the receiver of the 4-in-1 unit)

Also, can I use the stock transmitter or I need a new one?

I will be using a...
- DD CN12-RXC tail motor with a 4530 prop and adapter.
- Poly-Quest 11.1V 850mAh Lipo batteries
- Wattage 370 timed main motor

Sticky collective pitch problem, fixed.

Any input will be appreciated.

Novak

I just installed the vertical tail fin that comes with the replacement vertical tail support. I've been learning to hover for a few weeks now, and can hold a stable hover for as long as I want. My first couple of hovers with the fin on, and I've got to say that the heli acts a little different. Should it? Is it just my head playing games with me? Or is it the fact that with the fin installed, airflow across the tail rotor is now restricted a little? I honestly don't know. Anyone care to respond?

KSUperDuty :
Alternating red to green means that there is no signal from the transmitter to the reciever. check the batteries in the TX and make sure that your crystal frequencies match.

spinnroll:
Installing a tail fin will indeed change the flight characteristics of the heli, in hover and forward flight, it will be more prone to point its nose in the direction of the wind, you may want to take the time and adjust the gyro sensitivity and proportional mix in the 4in1 to match.

I tried to post some pictures of the rotor head assembly on the high point balancer but i cant seem to figure out how, mabye I need to be a paying member but I did manage to upload them to my gallery.

Wow Enigma, you REALLY take this stuff seriously. I mean, I have a lot of respect for my equipment and I'm careful with it...but wow...the whole gear checking and balancing thing just seems like a bit overkill...but anyways, to each its own =). My main shaft is a LITTLE bent, I'm going to replace it when we get more in at the shop, but for now it's doing OK. It was weird, I was actually getting no intereference today, I usually get SOME amount of interference. Flying in the backyard is a lot more fun than before, because now that I know my heli a lot better I can predict where it's going, I know when to move and I can bring it about a foot away from me in a hover without worrying. It's just that feeling of "one-ness" with the heli. Also, it seems like I'm the honorary Heli Guy at the hobbyshop now, I'm helping all the Blade customers and I was even teaching one a bit out back. It's pretty cool...just three weeks ago I was sliding and slamming across and into stuff, and I was totally lost. Now, some four sets of rotor blades, a new main shaft and flybar, new main frame, new canopy, three new sets of skids, two training gear (overkill, managed to lose a couple skid mounts and got lazy so I just bought a new set), a LiPo pack and aerobatics kit later....here I am!

Wow, now that I look back, this IS an expensive hobby. HAH!

Welcome to the helicopter world Dark Wombat! '_;